Night Shift
by Artdirector123
Summary: A one shot for an AU I've been working on where Dolcetto lived and eventually becomes a royal guard to Ling when he becomes emperor. Hope you enjoy. Fluff with slight angst. Lingfan although neither Ling nor Lanfan are physically present.


**Hey. I hope you guys enjoy this story. Just so you know, I gave a few of the background chimeras names, so don't be confused if you see any that are** **unfamiliar. Anywas, hope you like this One-shot. Let me know what you think!**

The night was quiet. All was calm and still. It had been for the past few hours. Dolcetto stared up at the moon from the window in boredom. He let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes. This night just felt so peaceful compared to the hecticness of the day before. If he just let his eyes droop, he could fall asleep right here on the spot. He shook his head. He couldn't let himself do that, however. He had a job to do. He glanced over his shoulder to where the decorated antique crib sat in the center of the room. Two days ago, Lan Fan had given birth to Ling's first child: a daughter named Min. The nation had rejoiced in response. It took five years for their emperor to marry his "first wife" (little did they know she would likely end up being his only wife unless he was forced to marry again) and over a year and a half later she had given birth to a healthy baby girl.

While the nation celebrated the birth of the child, everyone in the palace was less than thrilled. Sure they were excited for the arrival of the princess, but a new addition to the royal family meant a new target for kidnapping, assassination, and so on, especially considering how many enemies Ling had made during his rule. He had pushed for a lot of changes, and although many supported him, there were plenty that hated him. He had remembered at least three occasions when Ling had received death threats, one of them protesting his decision to marry Lan Fan. He would have had to miss the wedding to be on security detail if Mustang hadn't offered some of his soldiers to supervise the event. But that opened up a whole new can of worms about people thinking Ling was really some figurehead put in place by the Amestrian government…But what can you do? There would always be people after him and his family no matter what he does. And that's what he was there for.

He walked over to the crib to look down at the baby. She was swaddled in fine silk, her mouth slightly open as she slept. He folded his arms over the side of the crib and leaned on it as he stared down at her. He couldn't help but look at her curiously. To be honest, he never thought he would have anything to do with children, particularly young ones. Even before he became a chimera, the thought never crossed his mind. He didn't hate them, but he wasn't particularly fond of them either. And yet here he was, guarding possibly one of the most important infants in all of xing. It was so strange how this girl who could very well one day command entire armies and decide the fate of her nation could be so small and helpless. As she shifted slightly in her blanket as she slept, he smiled at her in amusement. She was so helpless right now that she couldn't even fight her way out of a blanket.

However, he had to admit, she was very cute. For a newborn anyways. Even in the dark he could see she had gotten her mother's nose and eyebrows. Good thing too. If she had her father's nose she would have just looked plain weird! He subconsciously reached down and brushed a finger over the soft black fuzz on her head. He had expected her to come out looking as bald as Bido had been, but that wasn't the case at all.

As he continued to absentmindedly stroke her tiny head, she began to stir. He cursed under his breath as her eyes opened slightly and she began to fuss. 'Crap,' he thought. She was going to wake up half the palace if he didn't do something. "Hey!" He said, "Uh...it's alright! It's just me…" He carefully lifted her out of the basin in the way the nursemaid had demonstrated. "Come on…" he said as he carefully rocked her, "Don't cry...you can't go back to sleep if you keep crying." The tiny girl continued to whimper as he rocked her awkwardly, but her voice did not raise in volume. 'Yeah, see? I ain't so bad," he told her, "Course, I'm sure you would prefer one of the maids or your parents but…I guess I'll just have to do for now. Sorry kid." He had no idea what he was doing but it seemed to be working so he kept doing it. The whole thing was so awkward, but the girl was in fact calming down. He sighed in relief as her eyes slid closed and she fell back asleep.

An amused look came to his face while setting her back in the crib as he thought of how the old gang would probably react to seeing him playing nanny like this. Greed would have probably teased him over it a little. So would Ulchi and Venni. Roa would have rolled his eyes at them while Martel would have told them to lay off. She'd probably be happy for him, even though she wasn't very fond of little ones herself. Rick and Donovan would probably question him about if he really hadn't had any experience with kids before. And then Bido...well Bido would probably ask if he could hold her for a while! The guy always did like babies. He always wondered if the man hadn't become a chimera if he would have wanted a family of his own, but never asked.

Dolcetto frowned as he leaned against the edge of the crib again. Unfortunately, he'd never get the chance to find out. It had been so long since they all passed away, and yet sometimes it felt like he had lost them yesterday. They were like family to him, and he couldn't protect anyone of them. Even Greed with his ultimate shield he wasn't able to keep safe. He sighed but his lips turned up as he continued to think. He supposed that's why he was here now though. He had a new family of sorts to protect. They took him in and gave him a home, a purpose. They would never replace his family at the Devil's Nest, but they were still just as precious to him. And he would be damned if he let them slip through his fingers too.

With one last look at the sleeping infant, he turned and walked back to his chair next to the window to silently stand, or rather sit, guard.

…

(Several hours later)

The man climbed carefully along the the wall of the building, constantly looking over his shoulder as he slid across the wall. He managed to make it past the guards at the front and had scaled the wall with ease. Now all he had to do was find the girl. Ever since the boy became emperor, the Zhao clan had suffered. They used to be one of the strongest clans, but lost a lot of political power when the idiot implemented his new act that made all the clans have equal standing in government, no matter how much land they had. It was unfair! The Zhao clan had the most land, the most wealth, and was highly populated. They should have the most say. They had suspected it was all because that boy had made an alliance with the Chang clan, but could never confirm it. And then, as if to spit in their faces, the child also made hundreds of new trade agreements with Amestris over the years. The Zhao clan had been the center of trade before, with having three of Xings ports in their lands. Now that he had opened the country up to the west, the port cities had lost some of their prominence.

Well, they weren't going to stand it any longer. The Zhao clan would be returned to its former glory once they kidnapped the emperor's new daughter. The would hold her for ransom until he changed a few of his decrees. The young man found the window and quickly and quietly slid it open before stepping inside. The Zhao clansmen froze as he noticed the guard sitting beside the window but relaxed when he saw his eyes were closed and he was slumped over slightly with his arms crossed. His chest rose and fell rhythmically. He breathed a sigh of relief before turning and tiptoeing over towards the crib. As he did so, Dolcetto's eyes snapped open, his brow sculpted into a nasty glare.

The man stood over the child, sack in hand. He smiled to himself. This had gone perfectly. So long as the child didn't wake up, it appeared that everything would go according to plan.

SHINK

There was a flash of metal and the man yelped as he felt a cold blade press against his throat. A hand suddenly clasped over his mouth and the would be kidnapper gave a startled, yet muffled noise. His breathing became faster and his heart started pumping harder as he stood there, frozen in confusion. What was going on? Who had caught him?

"Shhhhhh!" The accented voice whispered darkly, "You don't want to wake her do you?" The kidnapper turned his head slightly to see the guard he thought had been dozing holding him hostage. His visage was cold and grim while his blue eyes seemed to gleam in the moonlight with fury. The man gasped as the guard suddenly pressed the sword against his neck more, causing a trickle of blood to form. "I don't know what exactly you were planning, but I don't appreciate you disturbing the princess. If you want to keep your head, step away from the crib," the Amestrian man ordered grimly. The Zhao clansman was practically shaking but nodded. He backed away from the crib with Dolcetto keeping his blade at his throat. They backed up almost to the window before the dog chimera dropped the sword. The Zhao clansman sighed in relief before taking the opportunity to try and reach for the knife in his pocket. Dolcetto saw his arm move and before the man could do anything, he kneed him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him before decking him in the face, knocking the man out cold. Once he had done so, he used his and the man's own belts to tie his hands and feet together.

Dolcetto smirked down at him as he crouched next to the unconscious form. "Sorry buddy," he said, "But she and her family are under my protection. And so long as I'm breathing, no one's gonna get the chance to lay a finger on them."


End file.
